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JUSTICE JOTTINGS
August 2026
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Women & Justice Virtual Event
Saturday, September 26 at 11am ET | 10am CT | 9am MT | 8am PT
Join MSJC's Women & Justice Team for a virtual "house meeting." This celebration of St. Phoebe and Venerable Marie Therese de Lamourous will allow us time to remember how their stories exemplify women united in their baptismal call to diakonia—active, radical service. Join us to open your hearts to their witness of persistent courage, pastoral care, and holy leadership.
This intimate gathering will include prayer, learning, and synodal conversation about the ministries of Venerable Marie Thérèse and St. Phoebe, as well as the active question of women's inclusion within the diaconate today.
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Season of Creation Open Gathering
September 30 at 8pm ET | 7pm CT | 6pm MT | 5pm PT
The MSJC/MEEC Integral Ecology Team is hosting an open virtual gathering for members of the Marianist Family to come together during the Season of Creation. This year’s theme, “Living Water,” draws from Ezekiel 47:1–12, a vision of life-giving water flowing from the temple, restoring barren land, reviving waters, and sustaining flourishing ecosystems.
Join us for a time of prayer, reflection, and conversation about our call to care for our common home and to work together for the renewal of creation.
Interested in attending? Please email Sr. Leanne Jablonski, FMI to express your interest and receive more details.
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Communion Film Screening & Discussion
When: Monday, November 9 from 7-9pm ET | 6-8pm CT | 5-7pm MT | 4-6pm PT
What: Join MSJC's LGBTQ+ Initiative and Retreat to Broadway for a special screening of Communion, followed by a live conversation with writer and performer Matthew LaBanca.
Following its acclaimed Off-Broadway run, Communion tells the true story of a gay Catholic school teacher whose marriage to his husband cost him his job and reshaped his relationship with the Catholic Church. Through storytelling, music, and humor, the film explores faith, identity, and belonging.
This event will invite participants into meaningful conversation about faith and LGBTQ+ inclusion.
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MSJC REFLECTIONS, RESOURCES,
AND CALLS TO ACTION
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Looking for a prayer grounded in gratitude, connection, and care for creation? The MSJC/MEEC Integral Ecology Team shared the beautiful prayer below at the 2026 MLC-NA Assembly in Louisville this July. Drawing on the Indigenous tradition of honoring the four directions, the prayer invites us to recognize the peoples, places, seasons, and gifts of our common home—and to pray for our Marianist Family across the world.
We invite you to spend a few moments with this prayer for ecological conversion, and consider adapting it for your own place and community.
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Natalia Imperatori-Lee, the keynote speaker at the July MLC-NA Assembly, wrote a reflection in the recent Outreach newsletter. It's a commentary on Synod Study Group 9, a working group established during the Catholic Church's Synod on Synodality to examine 'theological criteria and synodal methodologies for shared discernment of emerging doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues.' This report sparked discussion on the experiences of LGBTQ+ persons, and ultimately a decision to include their testimony in the report. Imperatori-Lee reflects that this is a Council of Jerusalem moment which encourages us all to embrace the messiness of life, listening to one another with compassion. Let us heed her call to do so!
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In a recent National Catholic Reporter guest essay, Jesuit Fr. Patrick Saint-Jean reflects on Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, and what it might mean for Black Catholics and the Church’s ongoing reckoning with its history of slavery and racism. Saint-Jean argues that by naming the Church’s complicity in slavery, asking for forgiveness, and centering human dignity, the encyclical opens an important door toward truth, healing, and rebuilding.
For those committed to racial justice in the Church and beyond, this reflection offers an invitation to consider what genuine acknowledgment and repair can look like—and what it means for all of us to participate in the work of rebuilding.
| | DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE | | |
Upholding the Catholic Church's Teaching Against the Death Penalty
On July 27, Florida’s Catholic bishops issued a nine-page pastoral letter against the death penalty, urging people to reflect on the church's opposition to the practice, and citing scripture, previous statements from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and remarks from recent popes. The day after the bishops' letter was made public, Florida executed two people (just five hours apart), one of whom was 80 years old -- the second-oldest inmate known to receive a lethal injection in modern U.S. history. On August 18, Florida is scheduled to execute William Silvia, who is severely mentally ill.
Florida has had a record-setting pace of executions over the past 18 months. In 2025, Florida executed 19 death row inmates, and this year the number is already at 13, with two more scheduled by Sept. 10. This is the most executions in the country this year, so Florida is quickly catching up to Texas, which has long had the most executions in the nation. Both Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Texas governor Greg Abbott are Catholic.
To learn more about this situation, see the August 17 opinion article by the Editorial Staff of NCR (National Catholic Reporter). To learn more about how you can uphold the dignity of life and the Catholic Church’s teaching, visit
As Marianist communities, note the faith-based effort to toll church bells when there are executions, as part of a campaign called For Whom the Bells Toll, which our MSJC DP-RJ Team supports with yard signs. To learn more about the bell-ringing campaign, see https://forwhomthebellstoll.org/ and the August 13 article by Religion News Service.
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Our Immigration Issue: What Can I Do?
The Immigration issue facing us is daunting. People ask, other than praying for a just resolution of this problem (which is a very important action), what can I do?
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has provided a listing of parish activities to help immigrants, migrants, refugees and people on the move. Read more below:
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